textproduct: Quad Cities

KEY MESSAGES

- Widespread light accumulating snow will continue this afternoon and evening. On top of what has already fallen today, there could be an additional coating up to one inch of snow.

- Temperatures will gradually warm this week to near seasonal values. High temperatures may warm above normal by late week.

SHORT TERM /THROUGH MONDAY/

Issued at 158 PM CST Sun Feb 1 2026

Widespread light snow continues across the area this afternoon as we remain under a mid-level shortwave impulse, which can be seen very well in the GOES-East mid-level water vapor satellite imagery. Ample moisture has been available for ice crystal growth within the dendritic growth zone (DGZ), which the 01.12z HREF ensemble soundings all suggest through the afternoon before loss of ice as we go into the evening hours. So far, we've received a few reports of around two- to three-tenths of snow from this morning. An additional coating up to one inch of snow is possible, so some slick road conditions are expected in spots. Limited snowfall rates of less than a quarter inch per hour will keep accumulations limited, but southwest winds gusting to around 25 mph or so could result in some blowing snow, most likely in rural, open areas. With the expected ice loss aloft this evening, there is an outside chance (<10% per the latest ensembles) for some freezing drizzle to occur as there will be some lingering moisture in the column below the DGZ to support the freezing drizzle. Lift appears to be quite weak, however, and in fact, could be some subsidence in the low-levels to help limit this freezing drizzle potential so will keep out of the official forecast, but something to watch for this evening.

Cloud cover should dissipate overnight into early Monday as the drier air takes control. Additionally, upper-level ridging will develop in the wake of the ongoing shortwave. It will actually feel pretty seasonal as far as temperatures are concerned, with highs warming to the middle 20s along Highway 20 to the lower 30s south of I-80. These temperatures may be a bit cooler if any locations receive a fresh inch of snow today.

LONG TERM /MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY/

Issued at 158 PM CST Sun Feb 1 2026

The long-term period looks mostly dry, despite a few clipper systems passing over the area at times, mainly for Monday night and again Thursday night. The primary limiting factor appears to be a lack of moisture, so measurable precip appears more difficult to come by. The latest NBM actually keeps our area dry for the Monday night system, but several of the individual 01.12z ECMWF and GEFS ensemble members do indicate some light QPF associated with a mid-level shortwave, along with a low-level FGEN banded precip signature, so we did introduce some slight chances (10-20%) of precip along the Highway 20 corridor. Some models are even more bullish than this, so we'll have to re-evaluate the size of the footprint of precipitation. A larger system grazes our northeastern areas Thursday night. NBM only has 10-20% chances of precip for our far northeast, so not much coverage for that system either. With all of this said, it appears likely that most of the CWA will remain dry for the next week.

The bigger story for this week will be a trend towards warmer temperatures for the latter portions of the week. Large-scale ridging along with a Rex Block pattern is progged to develop across the western CONUS, which will support thermal ridging over our region, although to what degree looks uncertain at this time as the ECMWF ensemble mean 850 mb temperatures are at least a few degrees warmer compared to the GEFS ensembles. The LREF exceedance probabilities of high temperatures at the freezing mark or warmer increases to 60 to 90% for Thursday and Friday. Those that have been looking for some relief from our recent stretch of cold, the end of next week looks to provide that relief in a big way. Some folks across our south may see highs in the lower 40s!

AVIATION /00Z TAFS THROUGH 00Z TUESDAY/

Issued at 530 PM CST Sun Feb 1 2026

Snow will move out of the area in the next few hours. A slight chance (20%) for fzdz at DBQ is possible for the next 3 hours. After that conditions will improve to VFR for the rest of the period, especially after daybreak.

DVN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

IA...None. IL...None. MO...None.